


Somebody To Love

by lashtonirmings (randomusername)



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, non-celebrity AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4142781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomusername/pseuds/lashtonirmings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose Harris is ready to swear off of men after having been played for a fool one time too many. She decides to reconnect with her ex-boyfriends, getting help and advice along the way from Michael, her neighbor across the hall. Before they know it, Rose and Michael become friends, and maybe something more. Very loosely based on the movie "What's Your Number?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somebody To Love

The sun was shining brightly through Rose’s bedroom window when she finally opened her eyes on Thursday morning. She took a few moments to collect her thoughts before she heard a shift in the bed behind her. Holding her breath, she turned to find Randy, her date from the previous night, snoring softly from where he lay beside her.

Swearing under her breath, Rose rolled out of bed and quietly tiptoed over to the bathroom. After shutting the door behind her, she combed through her hair, making sure to tame her bedhead, brushed her teeth, and applied a barely-noticeable amount of lip gloss before slipping out of the bathroom and trying to gently get back into bed.

Inwardly, she wondered if she was trying too hard for this guy, but ultimately decided that it was alright. They’d only been on one date. He was far from ready to see her first thing in the morning. That wasn’t a sight she’d wish on anyone.

She lay quietly in her bed for a few more minutes before she heard Randy yawn. Pretending to be waking for the first time that morning, she turned onto her side to face him, smiling at him sweetly. “Good morning,” she said, leaning her head on her hand.

“Hey,” he croaked monotonously before sitting up on the edge of her bed and looking for his boxers. Once he found them, he set about redressing himself in his clothes from the previous night.

Rose couldn’t fight the feeling of disappointment that nagged at her as she watched Randy dress without saying a word to her. He sat back down on the bed to put on his shoes when Rose spoke again.

“So, what are your plans for today? I was thinking maybe I could make you breakfast and we could—”

“That sounds great,” Randy cut her off as he stood from the bed, shoving his cell phone into his pocket, “but I have a thing I have to do today.”

Rose nodded dumbly as she got out of bed and followed Randy to the door. Before walking through it he turned and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She smiled at the gesture before opening the door and seeing him out of it.

“I’ll call you later, babe,” he said over his shoulder as he descended the stairs down toward the lobby.

Rose was standing in front of her apartment, watching Randy leave when the door across from hers opened. Her neighbor across the hall, the one with the eyebrow piercing and bright orange hair, stepped out into the corridor, wearing only a pair of boxers and a tee shirt. He was holding the hand of a tall blonde, and Rose knew that she wasn’t the only girl to be leaving his apartment this week.

She tried not to stare as the pair spoke, his hands on her waist as he told her what a great time he’d had and how much he was looking forward to seeing her again. His words sounded so insincere to Rose and she couldn’t even bring herself to feel sorry for the poor girl who was falling for it. She deserved what she got if she was willing to sleep with _that_ guy.

“Bye, Michael,” the blonde sighed as she backed down the hallway, waving at him.

“I’ll call you later, babe,” Michael called out as the girl turned the corner toward the stairs and stepped out of sight.

Rose immediately recognized the words and that tone and she realized: Michael wasn’t going to be calling that girl, and Randy wasn’t going to be calling her, either. She gave a short, scoffing laugh. “Yeah, right.” As she turned to go back into her apartment, she heard Michael call to her.

“Something funny?”

She turned on her heels to face him, arms crossed over her chest. “You aren’t really going to call her, are you?” She asked straight on, eager to be proven right.

He shrugged, leaning up against the doorway to his flat. “Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. What’s that got to do with you?”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Nothing, but the way you just tried to dance around the answer tells me all I need to know. Have a nice day.” She turned back to her apartment, stepping inside and shutting the door.

She had just barely walked into her apartment when she heard a rapid knocking coming from the other side of her door. She opened it to find Michael standing there, hands on his hips.

“What do you want?” She asked him, her patience wearing thin.

“I want to know why you think you know so much about me. You just assumed that I’m not going to call Carly back just because I didn’t want to answer your question? Maybe I just don’t want you poking your nose around in my business.”

“Okay.” Rose started, opening the door wider and standing in front of it. “Are you done?” She asked, sighing impatiently. At Michael’s nod, she went on. “What I know has nothing to do with you so much as it does your type.”

“My type?” He asked, eyebrows raising incredulously.

“Yes.” Rose confirmed, waiting for the inevitable question.

“And just what is my type?” _And there it was._

“Well, Michael,” she started, taking a step closer to him, “it’s Michael, right?” He nodded and she continued. “Your type is the kind of guy that will find a sweet, trusting girl like Carly, treat her to a nice dinner, – or whatever it is you like to do with these poor girls who make the mistake of going out with you – make her feel special, spend one night with her, and then kick her to the curb before she even realizes what’s happening.” Rose continued, ignoring Michael’s dumbfounded expression of disbelief and getting lost in her anger as she went on. “She’ll wait for you to call, giving you the benefit of the doubt no matter how much time goes by until one day she realizes the mistake she’s made, but by then it’s too late to do anything about it. Your type is the kind of guy that will tell a girl anything she wants to hear just so that you can get what you want from her. And, frankly, it’s as transparent as it is disgusting.”

She heaved a deep sigh as she looked at him. For a second, she could have sworn he looked almost contemplative. They stood in silence for a few moments before his lips twisted into a smirk.

“Wait a minute, I get it now,” he said, shaking a finger at her, “you’re _jealous_!”

Rose groaned loudly and had to fight back the urge to punch Michael in the nose. “I’m not jealous of anyone, trust me.”

“Don’t worry, babe,” Michael told her, his tone patronizing, “there’s plenty of me to go around.” He winked at her before turning away and going back to his own apartment. Rose watched in disbelief as he walked back across the hall and went into his flat, shutting the door behind him, but not before puckering up at her and making an obscene kissing sound.

Rose made a disgusted noise as she closed her front door, trying to erase the encounter from her brain so that she could get on with her day.

-/-

When she got to work, there was just about as much excitement going on as there always was: which meant to say there was none at all. She got to her cubicle and sat down behind her computer screen, opening up her email to see that she had one from Tess, her best friend.

**Paxton, Tess <tessapaxton@gmail.com>**  
**Subject:** ROOOOSIEEEE  
_Hey, are we still on to watch movies at your place tonight? You better say yes because I hosted last week and I haven’t heard back from Ellie, but I think she’s still coming._

There was no sign off, no goodbye, but it was just like Tess to be so informal and rushed. Rose smiled to herself, excited for the plans she had with her friends.

Rose spaced out at her desk for a few minutes before deciding to get up and go to the break room for a coffee. She took her time, not wanting to get started on the actual work she had to do today. She refreshed her inbox and found another email from Tess:

**Paxton, Tess <tessapaxton@gmail.com>**  
**Subject:** [No Subject]  
_WRITE ME BACK I KNOW YOU READ MY LAST MESSAGE AND I KNOW YOU AREN’T WORKING YET_

Rose rolled her eyes as she sent a quick response to her impatient friend:

**Harris, Rose <rosalynnharris@gmail.com>**  
**Subject:** RE:[No Subject]  
_OKAY FINE HI TESS HOW ARE YOU, YES, I’M EXPECTING YOU AND ELLIE AT MY PLACE LATER BYE_

Not even two minutes passed before she got her reply:

**Paxton, Tess <tessapaxton@gmail.com>**  
**Subject:** Re:RE:[No Subject]  
_Sounds perfect! See you at seven :-*_

-/-

When it was finally time for Rose to head home after work, she was exhausted. Checking her watch, she saw that it was 5:13, which left her a little less than two hours to take a nap before her friends were set to arrive.

She changed out of her work clothes and into a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt, collapsing on her bed with a groan. She had been asleep for about an hour and a half before there was a knocking on her door.

Stifling the urge to shout at whoever it was to go away, Rose walked up to the door and opened it to find Michael on the other side.

“You again?” She asked, sighing tiredly. “What is it now?”

“I need to know more about you,” Michael said absently as he pushed past her and into her apartment, looking around. He stopped by the kitchen counter, picking up a letter and reading the name on its front, “Rosalynn Harris.” He held up the envelope with a triumphant expression on his face before setting it back down where he found it.

“Why would you need to do that?” Rose asked, almost a little amused as she watched Michael walk around her apartment.

“Because, that’s what friends do, Rosalynn.” He told her, sitting down on her couch and picking up the magazines on her coffee table.

“Well, my friends call me Rose,” she said, taking the magazines from him and moving them to the kitchen. “And what on Earth makes you think we’re friends, anyway?”

“Because we are,” he answered, shrugging his shoulders in a matter of fact manner.

“Actually, we’re not, you are my gross neighbor from across the hall and that is all you are to me,” she corrected him, pulling him up from her couch and pushing him toward the door. “My _real_ friends are going to be here any moment and I don’t want you to still be here when they arrive.”

“Why not?” He asked when she pushed him out of the door, turning back to her. “Are you afraid I’ll like them more than I like you?” He laughed when she rolled her eyes at him. “You _really_ are the jealous type, aren’t you? You gotta work on that if you want to have a chance with me.”

Rose resisted the urge to slam the door in Michael’s face. Even though she _really_ wanted to. “Please, go away now.” Over Michael's shoulder, Rose saw a short redhead walk out of his apartment, carrying her shoes in her hands.

Her eyes widened in realization as she jabbed Michael in the chest. “Were you just using me to hide from your one night stand?” She whisper-shouted the question at him, not wanting the girl to hear her.

Michael shrugged, trying not to smirk. “One afternoon stand, actually. We met at lunchtime. I told her I had to come over here to help you fix your refrigerator and that she shouldn’t wait up.”

“Are you kidding me?” Rose asked in disbelief. “You are the worst, most vile human being on Earth.”

“Now that just isn’t true,” Michael said, his tone admonishing, “you haven’t met every human being on Earth.”

This time, Rose didn’t hold back and let herself slam the door in Michael’s face. She heard him laugh on the other side of it, his voice slightly muffled through the thin barrier. “Don’t hesitate to send me a video recording if a pillow fight goes down tonight.” She groaned loud enough for the entire building to hear as she marched back into her bedroom and flopped down onto her bed.

It was only ten or so minutes before there was another knock on her door and Rose stormed over to answer it, throwing the door open.

“What do you want now?” She snapped as she opened the door to find her friends on the other side, staring back at her with wide eyes.

“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry, guys, come in,” Rose stepped aside so that Tess and Ellie could walk into her apartment.

“Were you expecting someone else?” Ellie asked with a laugh as she sat down on the couch and turned on Rose’s TV.

“No,” Rose answered, shaking her head. “It’s just my annoying neighbor. He’s been bugging me all day.”

“The gross one?” Tess asked, “I thought you didn’t talk to him.”

“I didn’t, but I guess I do now.” Rose sighed as she sat on the couch between her friends.

“Is he nice?” Ellie asked absently, surfing the channels.

“No, not at all. He’s awful and I’d love to stop talking about him now.”

“Fine by me,” Tess said, getting up and walking into the kitchen. “So, do you guys know what you’re going to wear to the reunion tomorrow? I can’t decide if I want to go dress or skirt.”

“Dress, definitely,” Ellie answered, eyes still trained on the TV.

“Reunion?” Rose asked, looking between her friends.

Both girls looked at her with incredulous expressions. “Yes, our high school reunion, happening tomorrow night.” Tess answered as if she wasn’t sure Rose was going to understand her.

“High school reunion?” Rose asked, making a face, “Has it been ten years since graduation already?”

“Yes, it has,” Ellie confirmed with a shake of her head. “Can you believe that? So, are you coming, Rose?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, if anyone from high school was worth staying in touch with I would still be talking to them. Like you guys, we have been friends since we were kids, and we still are. I don’t need anyone else.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Tess said, one hand over her heart. “But you’re going.”

“Why should I go?” Rose asked, feeling belligerent.

“Because,” Tess walked back over to the couch and sat down beside Rose. “Calum Hood is going to be there.”

“Calum Hood? The Calum Hood I dated in year ten?”

“Yes! I also heard that he’s single.”

“Wow, very subtle, Tess.” Ellie laughed from her seat on Rose’s other side.

Rose looked at Tess with an unamused expression. “Are you seriously trying to set me up with a guy neither of us as seen in ten years?”

“Are you telling me that you aren’t interested?” Tess asked smugly.

Rose rolled her eyes tiredly. “Fine, I’ll go. But only to see what he looks like now.”

Tess clapped excitedly and Rose tried not to roll her eyes. Tess could be annoying and nosy at times, but at the end of the day she always meant well.

Truth be told, Rose was already beginning to look forward to the reunion. She knew that she was going to have a great time with her two best friends by her side. Not many people could say this, but high school had been some of the greatest years of her life.

She hadn’t been the most popular girl around, but she had her group of friends and was loyal to them. She got better than average grades, and was a tutor to a few students. In fact, that was how she met Calum. He was struggling to keep his science grade up so that he wouldn’t have to leave the football team, and the moment they met, they’d hit it off.

The movie night started with  _The Princess Bride_ , but Rose found herself reminiscing instead of watching the TV. She laughed when she heard Tess and Ellie laugh, jumped when they jumped, and cheered when they cheered. She went through the motions, but all she could think of was the reunion and who she might run into.

 


End file.
